Oh Baby!
by cloudyautumn
Summary: Bella and Jasper have a baby and decide to raise it- with the help of their family and spouses. A baby is a serious commitment, so naturally things get complicated. Not cliché I promise!
1. The New Arrival

Cloudy Autumn Presents:

**Oh Baby!**

_A Stephenie Meyer's Twilight-based fanfiction_

_**Chapter One: The New Arrival**_

* * *

Edward and I had been married for nearly ten years when our domestic felicity was altered. We lived in a happy little bubble of affection, love and adoration. Then, one day, I was out with my his brother, Jasper.

Jasper and I went to order a new table for Esme. Jasper went because he (and Emmett) broke the old one, I went because I had nothing better to do. Edward was out hunting with Carlisle and Rosalie and, like good, faithful children, we decided to do some chores for Esme.

Jasper drove, and I got to admire his beautiful driving. Like the first time I'd seen him driving, he was driving with one hand, only half focused on the road and his surroundings yet he drove perfectly, effortlessly and right in the middle of the right lane. I was pretty jealous.

He could feel my childish emotions and was chuckling but then he felt the spike of surprise and fear just as I jerked the wheel away from him. We almost rolled into the ditch, but his reflexes stopped us in time. We were perched precariously on the unpaved shoulder.

"God Bella!" he yelled, looking alarmed. "What the hell was that about?" His golden eyes were wide as they looked into mine. I swallowed, recovering my voice.

"Didn't you see it?" I demanded. With my inhuman speed, I bolted out of the car and onto the road. I blinked and concentrated on finding the source of my alarm. My ears picked up a faint whimpering and I sighed with relief. I moved closer and it got louder and louder. I came upon the object I'd seen crawling across the road. It was a baby and it was a miracle that we didn't hit it.

"Is that a baby?" Jasper was hesitant, drawing back. Jasper was getting better with self-control, but he made a slip-up every once in a while (and so did I). I nodded, unable to say anything yet. It felt so oddly fragile in my hands, this tiny human baby, and I was suddenly hyperaware of how Edward must have felt with me when I was human.

"What are we going to do with it?" I half-whispered to Jasper. He shrugged elegantly before turning back towards the car.

"I don't know," he replied, climbing into the driver's seat again. "Can't just leave it here so I suppose we'll have to go into town and drop it off at an adoption agency or something." He didn't need to blink before I was buckled in the passenger seat. There were obvious perks to being a vampire.

"Look at the little thing," I stroked its cheek, my voice was laced with nervousness. I wasn't born and bred the type of woman to be the maternal, mommy-person. That was best left to Esme... and Renee too. I was nervous about getting married to my soulmate for chrissake.

"Whoever left it out there is cruel," Jasper muttered, his eyes flicking back to the small bundle in my hands. It caught his gaze and gurgled happily at him.

"It likes you!" I cried delightedly, caught up in the baby's cuteness. "I can't believe someone would leave their baby like this. Even if it was an accident or something, it's really, really cruel." Jasper nodded in agreement.

"It likes you too," Jasper remarked as we drove into town. The baby was getting sleepy and was cradled against my chest with a peaceful, relaxed look on its face. I looked down at it, feeling an unfamilar emotion washing over me. I glanced sideways at Jasper to make sure it wasn't him attempting to influence my emotions but his eyes were on the town coming up around us.

"Alright," said he, "we'll inquire, to see if someone's reported a baby missing. If not, we'll go downtown and drop it off at the shelter." He manoeuvered the car into the police station's parking lot. "Wait in here for a second and I'll go." I watched him get out of the car and saunter into the police station. Through the open window blinds, I saw Jasper's face, caring and kind, lulling the police officer into telling him anything useful. I'd bet my wedding ring that he was using his powers too.

After a few minutes, Jasper came outside with a disappointed look on his face. I didn't need to ask how it went, but he shook his head anyway and swiftly pulled out of the lot. His disgruntled mood seemed to have awoken the baby because it wailed and stared at him reproachfully with big eyes.

"Don't look at me like that," Jasper said to the baby, looking slightly perturbed. "God Bella, I'm so rotten with babies. I haven't had to deal with one since before the war. I forgot how... innocent they look."

I smiled. "I agree," I concurred solemnly, "I was human nearly ten years ago, but this baby makes me nervous. It makes me feel like the biggest monster too." I chuckled, seeing the irony. Here I was, cradling the baby I never wanted to my non-beating heart, as if it were my own. Laws of science dictated that I could never have any kids ever too. Double whammy. What fun.

We drove in silence for the rest of the way. The only sounds in the car were the quiet strands of some acoustic guitar piece from the speakers and the baby's happy gurgling. It kept looking at us, it's eyes flitting back and forth between us, with its chubby fists reaching out for us both.

We arrived at the adoption agency/child centre and I was strangely anxious. There was an odd feeling in my stomach; I knew Jasper felt it because he kept looking back at me to see if I was alright. Stupid empathy powers- unfair! He stopped and switched the gearstick into park.

"Well," I said slowly, an ominous feeling creeping up into my throat. "Here we are." I unbuckled my seatbelt but made no move to get out. Jasper was tense too, although I wasn't sure if it was my emotions or his own.

"Yeah, here we are," he echoed, not attempting to get out of the car either. I sucked in a deep breath and steeled my resolve. And then I looked into the baby's face. Oops- quite the mistake. It was looking at me cutely, blinking up at me with big, human, emotional eyes. Damnit.

"We should get going and uh, give this baby up," I tried to keep my voice even. Slowly, I got out of the car, clutching the child closer to me. Jasper got out of the car too and ran a hand through his blond hair. He sighed, I sighed and we trudged up the stone steps towards the agency with the air of two convicts on death row. If I were looking at this from an outsider's point of view, I wouldn't be able to say exactly why I felt so horrible. I didn't particularly love children, and I knew that it would be nearly impossible to raise a child in _my_ household.

We stepped inside and I blinked at how quiet it was. Everything was starched, white and confined. It reminded me of a hospital or maybe an asylum. There was a receptionist at the desk. She wasn't the loving, elderly grandma I was imagining (and hoping for); she was in her mid twenties and had her hair pulled back severely.

"Hi," Jasper greeted her in a cautiously friendly manner. Her eyes swept him from head to toe and she smiled.

"Hello there," her voice was surprisingly sweet for a woman who looked like someone's bitchy intern, "Can I help you with something?" Her eyes unwillingly flickered to me and I felt a stab of satisfaction when I saw her mouth turn down in envy. I was inhumanly pretty now, and I had that glow that I admired on the other Cullens.

"Yes you can actually," Jasper drew the focus around him again, although I could feel that he was a little amused by my reaction to her. "You see," he leaned closer to her and I could hear her heart pulsing a little faster, "Bella and I found this baby on the highway. It seems that it was abandoned." He was working quickly on her emotions and I felt a wave of sadness hit me. The receptionist was sucked in. There were tears gathering in her eyes and she sniffed.

"Oh," she wiped away a tear and I struggled to hold back a little smile. "Well, I'm sorry but we don't have any room for this baby."

"What?" I blurted out in shock, "What do you mean you don't have room?"

"Well," the woman had regained her composure, "this shelter is small and we've already hit the maximum capacity for children here. It would be unhygenic to bring in any more."

"I see," I bit my lip, glancing at Jasper. We exchanged glances and I knew what we'd have to do. "And what would happen to this baby?" I tried to sound casual. The woman's face fell as she spoke.

"We'd have to call social services and have the baby taken to the shelter for infant-specific adoptions. It's a six hour drive from here. Then we'll have to just wait until someone adopts the baby, which can take months or even years sometimes," the receptionist informed us, and I frowned. My guess had been pretty close.

"What if," I said slowly, "Jasper and I were to adopt it?" Jasper was as still as stone, and I knew he was wondering that as well.

"Well!" the woman's voice took a more hopeful tone, "you could fill out the preliminary papers and I could write the other stuff so that you can take it home immediately and I could get a social worker for you in a few weeks. It would work out a lot better for the baby." She began printing out sheets and I pulled two pens from my handbag and handed one to Jasper.

It only took a minute to fill out the forms and get the necessary authorization. She looked appraisingly at the papers and put them in a folder.

"I'll mail this to the office myself, Mr and Mrs..." she took a quick glance at Jasper's application, "Whitelock. Oh, before I forget, what are you planning to name the child?"

I looked down into the baby's face. I let one corner of my mouth lift into a grin and said, "Douglas.And it's not Wh-"

"It's not Whitelock, it's Whitlock" Jasper interjected smoothly, holding me around the waist. The receptionist nodded and added Douglas's name to the paper and scribbled something else down. Jasper flashed her a dazzling smile and steered me out of the agency quickly.

We both got into the car and I looked at him inquisitively.

"I figured she'd detain us longer if we said we weren't together," Jasper shrugged. "We can just tell them the truth when the social worker comes. Saves us some time and saves Edward from tearing into town looking for you."

"Esme will be wanting her new table," I agreed, sighing as I realized something else. "We're going to have to shop for a few things for Douglas too." I patted Douglas on the head and he smiled and grabbed my finger.

"That reminds me," Jasper turned to look at me with inquisitive eyes. "Douglas?" If I had been human,I would have blushed but instead I gave him a steely glare. "Not that I don't like it," he added hastily.

"You better like it," I growled playfully, "see, I got the idea like this. You're Jasper right?" He nodded slowly. "And I'm Bella."

"Great explanation," he said sarcastically and I smiled.

"It is," I said emphatically. "Jasper is a rock, Bella is pretty close to flowers like Belladonna, bell flowers and stuff, so Douglas is a tree." I finished triumphantly and he burst out laughing.

"You're weird."

"Douglas likes his name, don't you Douglas? Douglas Swan-Whitlock." The baby laughed its approval and I smiled at it. Maybe being a vampire woke the up the mom in me (although it was highly impossible, I needed something to blame the sudden feelings on).

"I like Douglas too," Jasper said whined. "This is so surreal though. Who would have thought that when we left the house today we were going to come back with a baby?"

"Vampires aren't surreal?" I challenged him, one eyebrow raised. He smiled and I relaxed a little. "I agree with you though. The most surreal part is that we're doing all of this of our own free will." Jasper turned the car in to the grocery store parking lot.

"Okay," Jasper said to me, "you're going to have to walk me through this. What do we need to get?" He grabbed a cart and wheeled it. I had Douglas securely in my arms and we traipsed down the aisles.

"We need baby bottles and formula," I said, grabbing some and putting it in the cart. I paused at some baby bibs and pacifiers before throwing that in too. "Definitely need diapers. A baby blanket, a few little outfits." I was stocking up on the essentials.

"Bella," Jasper was staring at me with a very serious expression on his face.

"What am I missing?" I asked him anxiously. I looked into the cart. I had added towels, baby shampoo and lotion, as well as some other little baby necessities.

"Yellow elephant," Jasper kept a straight face, "or blue doggy?" He had two velvety plushies in his hand. I tried not to burst out laughing.

"You choose." I told him, and he threw them both in. While I was getting essentials, he was throwing in things he hoped would amuse the baby. I threw him an exasperated look when he tried to sneak in a few power rangers.

"What?" he demanded innocently, "If I were Douglas I'd want them too." He threw in a couple of rattles and teething toys.

"Big baby," I muttered under my breath. Douglas let out a happy cry. "At least someone's happy." Jasper grinned at Douglas and I snorted. We went into the checkout line where a girl quickly scanned their items. Her eyes fell the baby in my arms.

"What a cutie," she remarked. I wasn't sure if she was looking at Douglas or Jasper. Probably both. Jasper was oblivious, or pretending he couldn't feel her feelings. He handed her a couple of bills and helped me bag the stuff. "Have a nice day," she called out breathlessly.

We left and I pointedly ignored Jasper's chuckling as he drove to some high-quality, custom made furniture shop. I deigned to stay in the car with Douglas, who was getting a little fussy, and he came out fifteen minutes later.

"I guess it's a good thing I have eternity," I stated sarcastically. Jasper just grinned at me and turned on the engine.

"It was worth it," Jasper told me, smiling. "It's very smooth teak with inlay on the sides. I had the people have Esme's name in there. Secretly of course, and you'd only notice it when you look for it." I felt slightly mollified, touched that he would put so much effort into a gift for her and glad too, because I felt that Esme deserved as much.

"Alright," I made myself say grudgingly, "You're forgiven." We rode the rest of the ride home in our own thoughts. It was only when we were navigating through the hidden road that led to the Cullen's large mansion that I realized exactly what we've done. Jasper looked at me in alarm, feeling my sudden fear.

"Jasper," I said slowly, "We just adopted a baby." A note of panic rose into my voice and said child sleeping in my arms stirred. Jasper put a hand on my shoulder.

"It's okay Bella," he put a hand on my shoulder and I felt calmer. Irritation pricked me.

"Stop that," I snapped, moving away. He flashed me a look of annoyance and sighed, running a hand through his light blond hair.

"Bella," he began after the exasperation took its course, "Bella, they won't be mad at us. Do you think they would have wanted us to leave Douglas there on the road? You know they wouldn't. And it's not like we're a couple of young, irresponsible wrecks who can't take care of a baby. We can do this."

"Except for the crucial fact that we're vampires," I insisted, looking down at the sweet, angelic little face of my (I shuddered at the thought) new baby boy. "Oh my god, what if someone slips up?"

"Don't think about that," Jasper warned me sternly. "all of us can control ourselves well enough to keep the baby safe. As long as it doesn't start gushing blood or it isn't someone's secret tua cantante, we should be more than alright." He tried to comfort me again and I let him, feeling the anxiety and worry go numb.

"Thank you," I sighed. I clutched my little bundle tighter as Jasper got the bags out of the car. "I'm scared to see the expressions on their faces. Let's call out Emmett. I need some support right now. Edward is going to freak out." I pulled out my cellphone.

"Emmett? Can you help me grab some stuff from the car? Thank you. Yeah, we're right outside. Click." We waited and soon enough Emmett lumbered out.

"Whatcha need help with?" Emmett boomed cheerfully. He stopped and his eyes widened comically when he laid eyes on our baby. My eyes widened and I pressed a finger hurriedly to my lips.

"Shh," I hissed urgently, making sure that he didn't attract the attentions of the other Cullens.

"What the hell have you and Jasper been doing?" he asked with mock horror, "I left you two alone for a few hours!Damn Jasper, you're real good."

"Listen," Jasper broke in, not in the mood for Emmett's teasing, "Bella and I almost ran it over this morning. Someone had abandoned it on the road or something. The agency wasn't able to take care of it so we agreed to adopt it. This is Douglas."

"Oh it already has a name!" Emmett hissed gleefully. "Wait til everyone finds out what you've brought home. This is gonna be fun." He was rubbing his hands delightedly.

"See that's were you come in," my voice was thankfully strong, "I need you to go inside and bring everyone downstairs into the living room. Don't let Edward read your thoughts and try not to clue anyone in on anything. When they're all set, holler for us. Oh and we need you to break the ice a little."

"No problem," Emmett agreed easily. He practically ran towards the house with a spring in his step. We waited for his shout. I was agitated and shifted my weight from side to side. Finally we heard Emmett make an exaggerated sound somewhere between a cough and a roar. I clutched Jasper's hand and he led me towards the house.

Jasper was shielding me and he stopped at the entrance of the living room. I could hear Emmett telling them that Jasper and I had brought home a little surprise and he clapped Jasper on the shoulder and sat down. He was oozing amusement of course.

"I don't want you all to freak out," Jasper said softly, and he sent out a calming feeling. Edward was as agitated as I was because the calmness didn't seem to affect him at all. He was peering up at Jasper from where he was sitting on the piano stool.

"What is it?" He was asking. "Where's Bella? Come in and tell us what's going on already." Jasper gave my hand a gentle squeeze and stepped further into the room, allowing me to walk in properly and they to see me properly. Esme gasped.

"Surprise," I said weakly, "this is Douglas. Douglas Swan Whitlock." The baby stirred in my arms. Edward leapt up from his stool, shock on his face. Alice's was blinking owlishly. Emmett was guffawing loudly and Rosalie was hiding a smile or giggles behind her hand. Carlisle was waiting patiently for an explanation and Esme was already staring at the baby with cautious adoration.

"What?" Edward was sputtering. He got up gracefully and walked over to me. I held Douglas tighter to me, although I was consciously trying not to crush him. Edward loomed above me and Jasper stepped closer to me, half forcing me to stand behind him. From an observant outsider's point of view- like Carlisle's- this was the exact same position Edward was always putting me in as a human when we were being threatened. He did not say anything out loud though.

Edward came closer and Jasper put out a hand to stop him but Edward ignored him. His eyes softened as he looked at my face.

"You can't imagine that I want to hurt you Bella," the hurt in his voice was evident. I shook my head but held Douglas close. "Or the baby. Just come sit down somewhere and tell us what's going on." His voice was calm and I relaxed, moving closer to the expensive couches and seating myself. Jasper still followed closely along.

"Aww look at Jasper," Emmett cooed, and Rosalie smiled but hit Emmett's arm lightly nonetheless. Jasper shot them a dirty look.

"It's a real baby," Jasper's voice was thick, "and I don't want anyone getting funny thoughts." I shot him an inquisitive look.

"But you can feel their desire before they can act on it," I reminded him, "relax." I mimicked the way he was speaking to me in the driveway and he snorted.

"I'll relax after we tell the damn story and put the baby up to bed," he murmured to me and I rolled my eyes before launching into our story.

"Okay, so Jasper and I went to special order Esme's table when I saw something on the road. By some kind of miracle, we didn't hit it. We went to check and here was the little baby here.Jasper and I couldn't just leave it there so we took it with us, intending to see if someone had reported losing a baby. We went and nobody had done so, so we went to the shelter and they said they couldn't take it but they'd have to ship it off six hours away to live in a temporary place and it could possibly take YEARS before he found a decent home. So we took him, end of story," I was talking kind of fast but they caught every word of it. I shrank back, waiting for the uproar but was surprised when I felt warm arms around me.

Esme was looking at me with tears in her eyes. "May I?" She gestured towards Douglas and I gingerly let him go. She cradled him in her arms as if he were glass and stroked his little cheek. He burbled with happiness and she laughed, her eyes shining.

"I want to see," Alice demanded, standing up. She had a smile on her face too and her eyes were trained on the little bundle in Esme's arms. Esme cautiously passed Douglas to Alice.

"What a fussy little thing," she murmured, as Douglas began to feel uncomfortable at all the new faces around him. Jasper sensed it immediately, as well as Edward.

"He wants to go back to Bella," Edward declared, having seen both her face and Jasper's flashing in the child's mind. Alice handed Douglas back to me and he immediately settled down and let out a contented giggle. Jasper smiled and plucked the baby from my arms. Douglas reached up to grab his nose.

"It doesn't like us very much," Edward teased the family, "the only ones he seems to like are Esme, Jasper and Bella. Fussy little bugger." I smacked him lightly.

"His name is Douglas," she said primly and Edward laughed and scooped her in his arms.

"It's so nice to see you happy," Edward murmured lovingly to me, "I don't know if it was the smartest thing to bring a human baby into the house but seeing you glow and be so mother-ly is beautiful." He stroked my hair and didn't say anything else but I knew he was thinking about the what if's, and wishing that I could have children and that we were just normal people living normal lives. I could feel my entire soul aching for his loss. He pulled back from me and kissed me lightly on the nose.

"I never expected you to be so mother-ish," he whispered delightedly, "it took me a while to convince you to marry me and you were so nervous but now it seems like you've slipped into it nicely. Bella Swan, mom extraordinaire!" He laughed and I smacked him again. I knew that I would be blushing if I could.

"Now you have me," I said, feeling a surge of love for him.

"Yeah," his hand caressed my cheek. "Yes, I most certainly do. Forever." We were holding each other tenderly like that before Emmett pushed us out of the way so he could see Douglas.

"I want to see," he whined. "I bet he'll love me. Come here baby!" He pulled a comical face and Edward laughed uproariously when Douglas burst into tears. Jasper growled at Emmett, who was pouting now and I took the baby from Jasper and rocked it soothingly in my arms.

"Shhh," I said sweetly, "c'mon Douglas, just think of Uncle Emmett as a big, scary teddy bear." Jasper and Alice snickered beside me. He had his hand around her waist and they were both smiling.

"Uncle Emmett," Emmett stroked his chin thoughfully, "I like that."

"You know what sounds better?" Carlisle joined in on our little circle with a big smile on his face. "Grandpappy Carlisle." Esme beamed up at him and we all sat around the living room, smiling, joking and laughing with my new child in my arms.

* * *

**End of Chapter One**

_End Notes:Please review if you like it or have comments/constructive criticism. I would like to find a really good beta as well, and I'm going to try really hard to keep all of the characters strictly in-character. I hope update really quickly and I will reply to all inquiries in reviews. Thanks again!_


	2. Make It Work

Cloudy Autumn Presents:

**Oh Baby!**

_A Stephenie Meyer's Twilight-based fanfiction_

Chapter Two: Make It Work

* * *

Jasper and I finally got Douglas to sleep. We set up a makeshift cradle for him in Jasper's room, since Edward was usually playing music of some sort and Jasper wanted the little guy to sleep peacefully.

I retired to mine and Edward's room. The bed that he bought for me while I was human still took up most of the space, and we used it for different purposes now. I sighed contentedly as I lay close to his cold chest.

"What a day huh," I snuggled closer to my husband, shutting my eyes. I replayed today in my head as Edward stroked my hair.

"Yeah," he agreed. "When you and Jasper walked in with the baby, I heard everyone practically shouting in their heads. It takes a lot to surprise us vampires," he chuckled and I peered up at him, "but somehow you always manage to do it." I frowned.

"I don't mean to," I said reproachfully, "some sort of trouble always seems to find me. And I have a really good feeling about Douglas. When he looked into my eyes- I forgot all of my old fears about children and matrimony and stuff."

"And there were no thoughts about taking a bite out of him? Or that one of us might want to?" Edward asked wryly and I felt a flash of hurt. I pulled away and got up to walk around the room. Edward was up in a flash with his arms around me. "I'm sorry," he murmured apologetically, "I was just joking."

"Yeah?" I found my voice, and it was sharper than I intended it to be, "well it wasn't funny. I know my self-control isn't the best and I've been a vampire for less than a tenth of the time everyone else had, but to say that!" I fought with my sadness. "I wouldn't hurt him ever." Edward didn't say anything but held me tenderly, contritely. I wanted to forgive him but he had stung me pretty badly but- maybe it was the monster in me because on some deep level, I knew I was afraid that he was right.

"Bella Cullen," he spoke softly into my ear, "you are the most loving person I know and I am truly, deeply sorry if I offended you in any way because if-" he paused and my breath hitched. His mesmerizing, velvety voice still managed to dazzle me," "if there was any vampire who would be able to love and raise a flesh-and-blood baby, it would be you." He nuzzled me softly and I allowed myself to fully melt into his embrace. He led us back to the bed and we nestled there comfortably as if our little argument had never occurred.

* * *

At five o clock in the morning, Douglas woke up crying. In a flash, I had yanked open Alice and Jasper's door and cradled my child, hushing him soothingly. He stopped, but looked up at me with wide, teary eyes.

"My poor baby," I sighed, "what's wrong?" I thought about what Renee would have done and then immediately scrapped the idea when I remembered that more often than not, it was me taking care of her. Thinking about Charlie wasn't very helpful either and I sighed. My baby was getting restless again. I sniffed to see if he needed a diaper change. He was alright, so what was he so cranky about?

I took him downstairs, accidentally interrupting Emmett and Rosalie. They were only snogging, thankfully. I wondered how badly they could mentally scar Douglas before he was a full year old and scowled.

"Doug," I rocked my child. "what do you want?" He was still fussing and I was wracking my brain, going through the process of what a child needs. I was interrupted by Rosalie, who had followed me to the kitchen for some reason.

"He wants to be fed," Rosalie stated blandly before walking back out. Duh. I can't believe I didn't think of that. I warmed a bottle of milk for him and put it to his lips. He drank greedily, barely pausing for breath and I felt a spasm of guilt. Why didn't I feed him before he slept? I wondered when the poor child had last eaten anything. I watched him drink every drop before he mewed contentedly. I rinsed the bottle out and put it on a rack to dry.

I should thank Rosalie even though she and I didn't care to get along with each other as well as we did with the others. I walked into the sitting room where I had last seen her and Emmett. They were no longer joined at the lips; Rosalie was on the couch examining her face in a hand mirror and Emmett was playing games with Jasper, who had probably joined them after. Jasper paused and sprang up lithely, despite Emmett's complaints.

"How's he doing?" he asked me, reaching out to take Douglas. I carefully placed Douglas in his outstretched arms. Jasper was studying his face, no doubt reading his emotions to see if there was anything he wanted. He wasn't cradling Douglas like I had been; he was lifting him up as if he were a cardboard box or something.

"Hold him properly," I chided him and Jasper didn't give any sign that he had heard me, although I know he did. Douglas looked comfortable though, he wasn't squirming or fussing. He didn't even seem to be distressed. But then his face contorted and I took a step forward. I was soon glad that I didn't take another step.

Douglas burped. He burped up a little bit of milk and I exclaimed in disgust. Jasper got the worst of it because the liquid splashed him on the neck and rolled down his shirt. Rosalie snorted behind him.

"I told you not to hold him like that," I muttered, running upstairs to grab a bib so that I could burp Douglas properly, since that was what he apparently needed. I took Douglas back from Jasper so that he could get cleaned up and wiped Douglas' face with the bib. I tied it on and held him akwardly at arms length and tapped him on the back softly.

He burped again and let out a stream of milk onto Esme's new carpet. Crap. Rosalie was laughing harder and Emmett was fascinated now. I wrinkled my nose. I'm not thanking Rosalie anymore, I decided.

"They make this look so much easier on tv," I sighed as Douglas made his puddle on the carpet even bigger. Great. Now I had to buy her a new carpet, or at least, wash this one thoroughly.

"They hold the baby like this on tv," Emmett picked up a vase and demonstrated. "and then they pat it on the back like this," He patted the vase and it shattered. "Oops," he said innocently. "Well, something like that."

"You will never be allowed to do burp Douglas," I said in disbelief, staring at the broken fragments of pottery. But I held Douglas the way that Emmett had demonstrated. That was how I'd seen Phil's sister do it when she had her first baby too. Except she knew what she was doing. I had no clue whatsoever.

I patted my baby very, very lightly. He burped and a little trail of milk dribbled onto his chin. This was actually getting easier, I thought to myself. I tapped him lightly again and this time there was no reaction.

"Done?" I smiled and held him face-to-face with me. He smiled and laughed before burping out one last time- at my face.

"Gross!" I screeched, feeling it drip down from my cheek to my neck. I thrust him into Rosalie's arm, telling her to make sure Emmett didn't touch him and ran to the washroom to wash my face. I was out in a flash and came back. Rosalie had wiped Douglas' face and neck while I was gone, so he was clean and good to go too.

"Thanks," I nodded at my sister-in-law. One corner of her mouth lifted in a half-smile and I knew that she heard me. I wondered briefly where Jasper had gone but my question was answered when he came bounding down the stairs with an armful of toys.

"I figure we need to keep him occupied," he told me. He dropped the load into the middle of the room and plucked Douglas from my arms, setting him down in the middle of the room. The baby's reaction was to pick up the first toy he could find and stick it in his mouth.

"Douglas no!" I gasped, reaching to take the lego man out of his mouth. "Say ah," I directed my baby firmly, taking his jaw and opening it. I pulled out a headless lego man.

"Oh dear," said Alice, who had just walked into the room. I was gripped with panic. Human babies can't eat plastic! Suppose he choked? What if it tore his system. I was erratically going through the what if's in my mind.

"Carlisle!" I hollered, picking Douglas up off the floor and running to my father-in-law's study. He looked up, surprised, from the book he was reading behind his desk.

"What's the matter Bella?" he asked me worriedly, looking up at my agitated face. I held Douglas out towards him.

"Douglas ate a lego head," I explained. Carlisle looked taken aback but he pulled the child closer to him anyway. He opened Douglas' mouth and peered inside. He reached in and pulled out the head.

"He didn't even swallow it," Carlisle told me soothingly. The lego head rolled in his palm and I looked at it disgustedly. "I'm surprised he's playing with such small-piece toys. I recommend you only give him big, soft toys like bears and plushies or something." There was an undercurrent of disapproval in his words and Jasper popped into the study as well, having overheard the last bit. Alice and Edward were behind him.

"It's my fault Carlisle," he apologized, "I was so caught up in getting him toys that I didn't stop to think about what could have gone wrong." Carlisle nodded, not one to be judgemental or overbearing. Douglas crawled on the desk towards Carlisle, who dropped the slimy lego in the garbage behind his desk before taking his grandson in his arms.

"He looks like your grandson," Alice noticed. "He has blond hair and a similar face structure and stuff. It's too early to tell, but I think Douglas is going to end up looking something like a cross between Carlisle and Jasper." I beamed with pride. Both men were extremely good looking and it would be nice if my boy followed suit.

"Do you mind if I take care of him for a couple of hours, Bella?" Carlisle asked me, smiling down at Douglas' happy face.

"Sure," I agreed. Carlisle was so thoughtful, helpful and sensitive to everyone else; it would be really nice to give him something back once in a while. He was the most controlled too, and I knew I had nothing to fear in leaving Douglas with him.

"Say bye to mommy," I pecked Douglas on the cheek and left with Edward. I could feel his intense love for me as we left. He put his arm around me.

"It's incredible seeing this side of you," he teased me, his eyes like warm honey. I grinned and pulled him closer to me. We went to our room and Edward turned on my lullaby. I sighed luxuriously and we lay down on the bed, just holding each other close.

That was one of the things I loved about our relationship. We weren't stares and emotions like Alice and Jasper were, but we weren't physical passion like Emmett and Rosalie. Edward and I found balance between loving each others souls and bodies. He pressed cold, marble lips tenderly to my forehead.

"I missed you yesterday," he told me, looking intently at me. I wondered exactly what the subcontent of his words were. I felt his happiness and yet I could feel an unhappiness and I wondered if it had to do with Douglas.

"It's a good thing we found Douglas," I began slowly, my eyes scrutinizing his face, "I haven't seen Esme this happy in a while. There's no doubt that she loves _us _but sometimes I feel like she wants a little baby to have and hold again, like the little one she lost."

"Maybe Esme should adopt Douglas then," Edward was keeping his voice light but the damage was done. He saw the hurt on my face and backtracked immediately. "You're a wonderful mom Bella, but isn't this putting a strain on you? What's going to happen when that social worker comes and he or she realizes that you and Jasper are actually in-laws? Or if the social worker ends up being someones tua cantante? There are so many what if's and I just want to protect you. Please Bella." He was using his dazzling power on me but I wasn't fully affected.

I had forgotten totally about the social worker.

"Crap," I exclaimed, sitting up. "what am I going to do about that social worker?" I kissed Edward lightly before murmuring, "be right back," and I left to find Jasper.

Part of me was glad I'd made my escape. Edward was already tired of my mommy-phase, and I didn't want to hear it but I didn't want to let him know that he'd hurt me. I carefully neutralized my expression before I went to see Jasper.

"Oh," Alice said breathlessly when she opened her door, "what's the matter Bella?"

"Can I talk to Jasper?" I asked her, looking slightly embarrassed. I was obviously interrupting some serious Alice-Jasper time. "I can come back later if you want," I offered shyly.

Alice looked as if she wanted to agree but Jasper's blonde head peered out from the open door.

"No, it's no problem at all," he said welcomingly, "come on in."

I entered their room. It was very different from Edward's and my homey abode. There were mostly Alice's touches on the choice of paint, furniture and fixtures but once in a while I could glimpse hints of Jasper's. The bed was king sized, with a cushy mattress and sheets in varying shades of yellow. It was surprisingly messy and I was hit by a little embarrassment when I recalled what I thought I'd interrupted.

"Are you okay Bella?" Jasper seemed amused by my embarrassment and I remembered belatedly that he could feel every emotion I exuded.

"Fine," I said as coolly as possible, but my emotions still seemed to give me away because he laughed.

"What brings you here to visit?" Alice asked me with an edge of impatience. Alice was probably my best friend now, but she was still very demanding and domineering when she wanted to be. Clearly, she wanted to be so right now.

"Edward mentioned something to me that I'd forgotten," I ignored her tone, "it's about the social worker who's coming to visit. What are we supposed to do about that?"

"Oh yeah," Jasper had forgotten about it too. He looked thoughtful for a moment. I looked at Alice, who was zoned out.

"Do you think Alice is having a vision about it?" I asked hopefully. He and I waited until she snapped back to reality and she blinked, butterscotch-coloured eyes focusing.

"What was that about?" Jasper asked his wife gently, coming to put an arm around her. She looked up at him adoringly and smiled.

"I was trying to tune into Douglas' future," she explained to us, "and I saw him with us after the social worker's visit. So I assume everything will be alright." I grinned and met Jasper's eyes. Happiness radiated off of me in waves.

"That's great news," I was very relieved. "and this was after telling the social worker the truth, right?"

"Umm," Alice looked slightly put out and I raised a brow.

"Alice?" Jasper prodded her gently and she sighed.

"You two are going to lie and say that you're together and then you'll show the social worker- who will be a woman in her late twenties- around the house. She'll be so enchanted with how elegant and sociable everyone is. To top it off, Carlisle will have a bank statement of a Jasper and Bella account ready to show her and she will go back and tell the agency that everything is perfect for Douglas."

"Wow," I muttered. "This is going to take some acting." I grimaced. Edward said that I wasn't the world's greatest actress in our early "dating" stage.

"You'll be fine Bella," Alice assured me, rolling her eyes. "Besides, she won't think too much about your "relationship" with Jazz because of how good looking he is." She cast an appreciative eye towards her husband, who was smirking but silent. They made eyes at each other and I stifled the urge to laugh.

"Alright," I said, as much for their benefit as mine, "I suppose that if you say so, it's going to be so. As I've already said, you'll never see _me _betting against you." She beamed at me and I smiled and winked. "I'll just leave you two to your business." I left and they both waved. I had barely stepped past the threshold when I heard the door close behind me and the lock click.I shook my head, intent on finding my husband.

I checked our room but he wasn't in there any more. Frowning, I checked the library. He wasn't there either. Emmett was still in the living room and I assumed that Rosalie was either in her room trying new outfits or out in the garage trying to mess with her car.

"Hey Emmett, have you seen Edward?" I asked.

"Yeah, I think he went towards Carlisle's study," he replied, his eyes never leaving the screen. I thanked him and he made no reply so I walked away, following my new lead.

I knocked on Carlisle's door and he bade me enter. He was calculating something and there were papers and a couple different calculators strewn all over the desk.

"Hi Carlisle," I greeted him. He looked up from his work.

"Bella," he articulated benignly. He looked up at me as if I had his every attention and was very still. I liked that about Carlisle, he made everything seem important and worth listening to.

"Do you know where Edward went?" I asked, feeling slightly foolish asking my father-in-law about the whereabouts of my husband. I was a very poor wife, I thought wryly. "Emmett said that he saw him go towards your study and I wondered if he came to see you?"

"Oh," Carlisle said, "yes, he did. He asked if he could have some time with Douglas. I think they went to the park. Don't worry, Edward took the Volvo anyway." My lips compressed into a line and I thanked him before leaving.

I couldn't help but have some unsettling worry about what Edward was doing with Douglas. I trusted my husband, I loved him with every fibre of my being, but he was so unhappy about the turn of events that Douglas was causing. I didn't want to have to choose between the two of them already.

I decided that I needed to trust him and I waited impatiently for him to come home with my baby. I didn't say anything to Jasper, who would have probably worried and fretted as much as me before running off and trying to beat Edward to a pulp. Not that he could, I said to myself loyally, but I was very curious to know who actually would win in a fight between the two.

I paced the room for a good half hour before sitting myself at the piano and trying to play simple scales to calm myself down. I was halfway through the a minor scale for the thirty sixth time when the door opened and I smelled Edward. I flew out of my chair and towards the front door.

"Edward! Douglas!" I snatched my baby from Edward, looking him over for any tell tale signs of injury. When I was certain there was none, I swept Edward up in a hearty kiss.

"Can you greet me like this all the time?" he said huskily as we pulled away.

"Maybe," I smirked at him and his liquid gold eyes were staring into mine intensely.

"I'm so glad you and Douglas had some bonding time," I managed to look away, my heart should have been beating erratically. I focused my glance on the little boy in my arms.

"Yes," Edward said simply, "I think I can accept any baby of yours now Bella." He chuckled. "Just tell me about them before you bring any more home."

"I will," I promised, my lips turning up in a genuine smile, "but I don't think I need any more. You're a good boy, aren't you Douglas," I crooned to my child.

"Oh," Edward said casually, but a hint of mischief underlied his tone, "I brought Douglas home because he was having a slight issue."

"What issue?" I said sharply, looking warily at both Edward and Douglas. Did Edward secretly do something?

"Nothing dangerous or overly troublesome," Edward assured me. "It's just... well, you're going to have to change him soon. Very soon." He dashed upstairs, no doubt wanting to get away before the 'issue' occurred.

As if they had planned this all out, I was suddenly hit by a disgusting smell.

"Ugh!" I muttered, "stinky baby!" I had to hold him out an arm's length away. I walked into the siting room and Emmett immediately recoiled and covered his face with his arm.

"What the hell did you bring back," Emmett roared disgustedly, "a dead body?"

"Shut up and get me a diaper NOW," I ordered, glaring at him. At least he didn't have to deal with the joy of having to change the disgusting mess. Emmett was only too happy to oblige and ran away. He never came back, but a diaper was flung down the stairs at an alarming speed. I caught it and bowled over. As if on a second thought, a box of baby wipes hit me on the head.

"Emmett!" I yowled angrily, rubbing my forehead. Thankfully, I don't bruise anymore. I grimly grabbed the baby with one hand and marched him towards the bathroom. Gingerly, I peeled off the diaper, wincing.

I don't have to breathe, I suddenly remembered. I held my breath and was extremely, extremely relieved when the smells stopped. I finally managed to get the diaper off and tossed it in the garbage can quickly. A quick wipe and strapping a new diaper- voila, Douglas was as good as new. I quickly escaped the washroom, moving as far away from the smell as possible.

"Next time you have to go," I eyed Douglas and ended up looking into his big eyes, "I'm giving you to Jasper." I set him gently on the floor to roam around. Emmett didn't come back downstairs and it was only me, Douglas and the few plushies we'd forgotten to put away. I shut my eyes and sighed. After it's over, I decided, taking care of a baby isn't that bad. I heard Rosalie come in.

Unfortunately, she went to the washroom, probably to look at herself in the mirror. I waited, an eyebrow up, sharing a glance with Douglas. In less than a second, the entire house shook with a scream.

"EW WHAT THE HELL IS IN THE GARBAGE CAN? THAT SMELLS DISGUSTING!"

I had to stifle a giggle but Douglas had no inhibitions. He let out a big, gurgly laugh and I patted his head affectionately.

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER**

A/N: There will be more Jasper in the next chapter, but romance is going to focus around E/B and A/J. There will be some B/J, although I don't want to minimize the original pairings. Okay, there will be a lot of B/J, but it will come in to play a little bit later. Review to tell me how much of each pairing YOU want to see!


	3. Social Call

Cloudy Autumn Presents:

**Oh Baby!**

_A Stephenie Meyer's Twilight-based fanfiction_

Chapter Three: Social Call

* * *

_A few months passed before the social worker finally showed up at our doorstep. Jasper and I took care of little Douglas every day, and with each passing day, my love for my little tyke grew. I think I could reflect more on this time because I began to see a different side of everyone._

I was in the middle of mashing potatoes. Apparently, when swirled with a little bit of gravy, it became Douglas' favourite food. He liked a lot of things actually- the mushier, the better. Fortunately for Esme and I, Douglas was a little tyrant and glutton, he always finished all of his food with minimal fuss and never ever dropped any. I don't ever remember seeing a baby eat that much!

Anyway, while I finished preparing food and prepackaging it in little tupperware containers for Douglas, my cellphone rang. I would have been startled- if I were still human. Since I wasn't- and I'd been expecting this call all day- I picked it up calmly.

"Hello?" My voice was politely inquisitive. Pft. As if Alice hadn't pre-warned everyone in the house.

"May I speak with Mr. or Mrs. Whitlock please?" The voice was female. Drat. I had been secretly hoping for a male, since I could easily charm him and he was more likely to fall for a sucker-act. Human women we're so prone to being emotional and well…. catty. I recalled foggily that when Edward and I "dated", he took me to a restaurant. I remembered feeling a little put out by how gorgeous the waitress was, and how she immediately disliked me but practically drooled over Edward. Funny, she didn't look as pretty as I thought, looking back on that night. Actually, her nose was kind of big and her eyebrows were shaped funny. Ew.

"Speaking," I said into the receiver, waiting for the woman to get on with it already. She paused for a moment and in an insignificant second she replied.

"This is Gwen Richards," she informed me, "I'm the social worker who was set to interview you and your husband. I was wondering when I could drop by." I snorted internally. This was easy.

"Oh, any time," my voice was saccharine.

"Alright," exclaimed Gwen, "I'm pulling up to the driveway right now. Would you mind opening the door for me?" Predictable. It was pretty funny though, because she thought she was being devious. Unfortunately, nothing really becomes shocking when you live with a psychic vampire.

With inhuman speed, I was at the door, pulling it open for the woman walking up the drive. She was really pretty for a human I guess, although it was as if her beauty were dimmed to me; her complexion lacked a glow.

"Hi there," my voice did not echo my thoughts. I played up the warm, happy hostess immediately. I didn't quite snap my charming "guest" out of her state of awe though. Her eyes were as round as coins as she stared up at the grand, palatial Cullen home. I cleared my throat a little louder.

"Oh," her gaze had finally landed on me, and she blinked. Right. Dazzling vampire beauty had an effect on regular people. I felt a small twinge of pity, remembering how I felt when I was standing with Alice or Edward- the spike of jealousy and the self-consciousness threatening to overbear.

"I'm Bella Swan," I greeted her with a smile and inclined my head before I rememebered to tack on an extra name to mine, "Swan-Whitlock," I amended. Gwen had finally made it up to the front door and I held out my hand.

"I believe I've introduced myself," she was trying to conduct herself with utmost professionality, "but in case you've already forgotten, I'm Gwen Richards."

"Ah, I remembered but thank you. You're my interviewer for the day, right? Well, welcome to our humble abode." I finished airily, waving my hand in the direction of the interior rooms.

"Thank you very much," she beamed pleasantly. I began to walk inside and allowed her to follow, listening as she quietly removed her shoes and hurried to catch up.

"Is Mr. Whitlock home?" she asked, producing a clipboard and pen from her large, black tote.

"Jasper is working at the hospital but he'll be home in less than half an hour." I smiled as I said Jasper's name; I had to make it look like I was clearly enamoured of him.

"I see," she stared at her paper and her eyes were resting on a certain phrase followed by two boxes marked yes and no. Beneath it, there was a long blank box. "May I ask what Mr. Whitlock's job at the hospital is?"

"He's a therapist there, doing rehab with some of the long-term care ward occupants," I answered truthfully. Carlisle had gotten him a job there recently to keep up pretenses. It suited Jasper perfectly since it combined both his empathic abilities with his psychology degree.

"Ah," I watched as she checked off one of the boxes and scrawled something else down. With my superhuman vision, I saw that she'd checked off yes and wrote '_doctor_' below it. My eyes flickered to the printed font: _**Stable Occupation? **_was bolded and italicized and I felt a sense of impending victory fall upon me.

"Who currently occupies this house?" she was on the next item on the list.

"My husband's parents, his three siblings and one's spouse, my husband, myself and Douglas," I answered truthfully. Technically, that statement could be true whether Edward or Jasper were my husband. Hey- lying was getting easier.

"I see," she pursed her lips a little here and wrote three sentences down in the box. I lifted an eyebrow. Her writing was clear enough; it said: _does not live independently, has nine people living in home_. But as a side note, it also said: _house is very large, appears to be approximately 5000 – 8000 square feet._ That made me feel a little better, although I wondered if maybe she'd gotten the dimensions wrong since I was sure it was bigger than that.

"And what do you do for a living?" she asked me.

"I do all of the paperwork in Forks' police station," I saw her lips tighten a little and I hastily added, "it's more of a favour to my father and a way to pass the time. Jasper's family has a lot of money and he didn't really want me working at all but my father- the chief of police- and I convinced him that it would be okay for me to have a real occupation." I made my voice smooth and serene, laughing a little at the end. Gwen's expression relaxed a little, but I saw her make a little note on the side of her paper. I sighed. Gwen continued to pepper me with questions for another half hour until I heard the roar of Jasper's motorcycle in the distance.

"I think I hear someone's keys in the doorway. I'll be right back Miss Richards," I practically jumped out of my chair and ran- although compared to my vampire speed, it was almost a sedate, leisurely walk- to the door. I pulled it open to see Jasper standing there with his eyebrow raised.

"Social worker's already here," I muttered low enough only for vampire hearing. He nodded in understanding and I spoke louder, this time for the benefit of our audience. "Jasper!" I squealed in an almost Alice-esque fashion. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he wrapped his around my waist. Since he was so tall, I was barely on the ground and he carried me back towards the sitting room. He was smiling and so was I.

As we were passing through the threshold into the living room, I kissed him chastely on the lips. It was nothing much, just a quick brush, fleeting cool contact and that was all but his eyes regarded me with something akin to amusement. We kept up all pretenses anyway and we actually did look like a happy couple.

Jasper sat down on the tasteful chairs that Esme furnished the room in and I ended up in his lap. He was looking expectantly at Gwen, who was gawking silently.

"Well darling," a bit of his Southern manners kicked in, "aren't you going to introduce me?"

"Of course," I leaned back a little, and was surprised at how well we fit together. I didn't think of Jasper as a solid person much and I forgot that while Emmett won out in the muscle department, Jasper was actually bigger than Edward. His quieter personality around me made me see him more as a spectre or a ghost or something.

"This is Gwen Richards, and she's the social worker come see if we're suitable parents for Douglas," I said this all bluntly and the girl blushed a little at how direct and how bad I made her position sound. It was okay though, the interview was more than half over and I was pretty sure that the overall impression was good. Besides, now I had a male vampire to dazzle the wits out of her.

"Hi," her voice was breathy and she was blinking owlishly. "I was concluding the interview process but now I have a few more since both parents are here."

"Go right ahead," his smile was warm and I felt peace and fondness for everything radiating about the room. I repressed the urge to snort- and I thought I was laying it on thick!

"Just three or four," she smiled serenely and I nodded for her to continue.

"First of all," she flipped her sheet over and reset the clip on the board. The page was completely blank and I shot a glance at it curiously. Was she improvising now or something? "What are your future plans?"

I opened my mouth to reply but Jasper beat me to it.

"Bella and I are extremely close to my family but we were thinking of finding a place of our own in a few years, maybe somewhere down the road from everyone. Bella is thinking about going to go back to school and getting a bachelors of biology science to compliment her B.A. We've been talking about the next steps, but we both would like to make a sure decision before rushing into anything or flitting across the country." Jasper's answer was completely flawless, giving a lot of detail but not saying much. It was vague enough to change but specific enough to satisfy Gwen. Nice.

Gwen was writing down Jasper's answer in her own pointform, nodding her head. "It's good to see that you two have steady heads on your shoulders and aren't like the flighty couples that I deal with nowadays." The approval was clear in her voice.

"Oh?" my tone was interested, "flighty couples?"

"Mhmm,"Gwen sighed, "I deal with couples who want to adopt children because they've got this illusion of perfect little angels and cookies and bedtime stories and whatnot, but within a fortnight, they're stressed and want to return the child like it's a shirt from a store. You know, buyer's remorse." Her eyes narrowed.

"That's horrible. I don't think Bella would do such a thing to any child of hers," Edward had entered the house while Gwen was talking. He was leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed and he looked… just edible. But I noticed something else. His eyes were on Jasper's arm slung across my waist and my head resting just beneath his chin- and the eyes focused on us were dark.

I looked into his eyes but made no other indication of the feelings bubbling up within me. My husband hunted last night, and his eyes were a rich ochre when he left the house this morning. Therefore, by deductive logic, he was upset about something. Three guesses to what it was- and the first two didn't count.

"Edward! I didn't here you come in," I smiled at him with the friendly smile wives were supposed to give to their brother-in-laws and motioned for him to sit. "Gwen, this is my Jasper's brother, Edward."

"My Jasper?" he murmured unintelligeably (to human ears), piercing me with a look. I shot him an apologetic one in return but did not retract my statement.

"Yes well," Gwen was flustered for the second time, "I'm Gwen Richards." She didn't speak further than this. Edward smiled at her, dazzling her and I felt a wave of jealousy hit me. I could see it all from her point of view: model couple and single, hot brother- who happened not exactly off limits.

Jasper's free hand found mine and squeezed it reassuringly. I felt comfort wash over me and Edward was looking anywhere but at our intertwined hands, his face blank. God, I felt like I was breaking Edward, chipping away at him slowly and this was all just pretend! I wanted to wrap my arms around him and tell him that it was only him I loved.

And then he did something that made me infinitely angry and absolutely sad. He turned up the dazzle factor- on Gwen. He began to make little small talk with her, completely distracting her from finishing her interview- although I think she was pretty much done since all she could think about was my husband. I sighed and counted to a hundred with infinite patience. I deserved every second of this; me being the woman in her husband's brother's arms in front of said husband.

Thankfully, Carlisle came home soon after and concluded Gwen's business at the residence by photocopying all of the required documents for reference. There was a medical report for Douglas, a marriage certificate, miscellaneous degrees, a multitude of other important documents and a bank statement- which made Gwen's eyes nearly pop out of her head and I myself sighed quietly in exasperation. Cullen was synonymous with filthy stinkin' rich. Esme came home with Douglas in tow, and finally, finally, finally after a thorough examination of my son, Gwen left after promising to keep in touch with the "family", her eyes only for Edward. I was glad to see her go, but plastered another bright, fake smile on my face.

"It was nice meeting you, Miss Richards," Carlisle called after her as she walked down the driveway towards her car. She turned and waved, before getting into her car and driving away. I visibly sagged and closed my eyes for a second. Jasper watched me silently and Carlisle put a cool hand on my shoulder before walking away, saying "Don't worry Bella, I photocopied all of her notes."

I opened my eyes and stared disbelievingly at him.

"What can I say?" He shrugged, a faint smile on his face, "I'm slick." He walked away humming MC Hammer's "U Can't Touch This". I laughed and soon the laughter sounded a little hysterical, even to my own ears.

"Come on Bella," Jasper was pulling me up from my half hunched state. My eyes were dry since vampires couldn't cry, but my expression was more than enough to make him blink. "If you want to patch things up with him tonight," he said slowly, taking in my less than happy state, "I'll feed Douglas and take him for the night."

"No no," I found myself insisting, "I've already messed up his day. My baby must be hungry and I might as well keep one guy in my life happy." With that, I trudged towards the kitchen, pulling out one of the containers that I'd been preparing before this whole mess started and heating it up. Jasper went to retrieve Douglas from Esme and was back before the microwave beeped.

"Hi there Douglas honey. How was your day?" I cooed, taking my son from his father and cradling him gently in my arms. His big brown eyes stared up at me, plainly telling me that he missed me all day no matter how much fun he had with Grandmama Esme. I smiled tenderly and kissed his forehead.

"Come on Doug, yum yum food," Jasper took the warm food out of the microwave and grabbed a blue baby spoon. I sat on the table and held Douglas as Jasper made funny plane noises and put spoonfuls of mashed potatoes into Douglas' mouth. Neither of us chatted really with one another, both simply captivated by our beautiful little boy.

While we were in the kitchen with Douglas, Rosalie and Emmett came home. Emmett was carrying a teddy bear as big as an armchair and as soft as a cloud.

"Hi there guys," he cried, "look what I brought home for little Douggie! His name is Emmett." I laughed. Trust Emmett to name the bear after himself. Douglas finished his food and reached out for the bear- and it was actually much bigger than he was.

"Why don't we go sit down and play," Rosalie said, gesturing to the sitting room. I nodded and Jasper quickly washed the container and spoon. We all retired to the other room and for a few hours, I forgot all about my issues with Edward and the crappy day's events. Everything melted away with the happy bonding time I was having with my family.

I was honestly surprised with Jasper. I didn't really know him well, but I knew that he was a soldier before everything and that Alice was his everything. I didn't think he'd have the capacity to love more than one thing at a time or the temperament to handle raising a little baby boy. Everyday he was proving me more and more wrong. As I watched him play the teddy bear like a puppet, making it dance and chase Douglas as he crawled around, I couldn't help but notice that for once, Jasper didn't look like he was in pain or brooding.

We spent most of that evening laughing.

Douglas played energetically for a while before he needed to have a human moment. After that moment, in which Emmett was roaring hysterically with laughter as we gingerly changed Douglas' diaper, Douglas was ready for a bath and bed. The little tyke nodded off in my arms and we slipped him into the cradle in Jasper and Alice's room. I left Jasper in the room with him, closing the door softly. He was content to sit there in the darkness, watching his son sleep.

With a pang of guilt and sadness, I remembered how Edward used to watch _me_ sleep when I was still human. I felt horrible as the day's events came crashing back down on me. I slipped into our room meekly, and immediately came upon the sight of Edward sitting in the bed, resting against the headboard with an empty look on his face. His expression was now just tired and his eyes were butterscotch again. Clair De Lune played quietly in the background.

"I remember you saying this was a favourite classic of yours," he stated when I walked in. I felt a burst of emotion and flung myself onto the bed. I buried my face in his chest. We didn't say anything for a while.

"It hurt," his voice still had that listless, empty quality to it and my heart ached as I listened to him. "All I wanted to do was tear you out of his arms and never let you go. It wasn't even that he was having illicit thoughts or anything!" He let out a bark of laughter, "if that were the case, maybe I wouldn't feel so bad. I think that's what made it worse though. He was fine having you there in his arms and it was like you molded together-" I had secretly thought that myself and felt a pinprick of guilt for it, "and you really did look like a couple."

"Douglas needs a family," I whispered.

"And I want to be a part of it," Edward insisted, "but I went about it completely the wrong way. I can't be Douglas' father because he already has one. But Bella- I'm sorry for flirting with her- you know she meant nothing to me and I was just simply _irrational _and I let my jealousy get the better of me. I would never hurt you. Can you ever forgive me, Isabella?" He addressed me with my full name.

"Don't ask for my forgiveness," I pleaded with him, "it should be the other way around. I know it's hard, and I know we may have overacted our parts. I think that if you'd been completely fine with it, that would be more of a problem. You love me, right Edward?"

"Always and forever." His hands found mine and he lightly stroked my wedding ring. "My heart is right here."

"I love you too."

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER**

_Jasper and Bella do have a bit of physical contact here, but it's not getting emotional yet! I'm so sorry for the long hiatus- I wrote this chapter six times: four because I was unsatisfied with it, and twice because my computer lost it. I'm hoping to update once a week, as long as my grades don't slip. _

_What did you think of the ExB? They're a good couple in canon, but Edward is very melodramatic and Bella can be kind of silly sometimes. There's still a little bit of it left to go through before Bella and Jasper realize exactly how much they effect each other and we'll be seeing more Alice in the next few chapters. But that's then, and this is now so toodles!_

_C.A._


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